Police Advise Chapel Hill Residents To Stay Alert For Vandals

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Slashed tires and shattered windows have become a common sight in one Triangle town, and police are now asking residents to heighten their level of awareness and to stay alert.

In the past month, Chapel Hill police have received approximately 40 reports of vandalism acts at locations all over Chapel Hill, but still have no suspects.

"We've seen tires slashed, we've seen windows broken, we've seen rear view mirrors pulled off the sides of cars," said Lt. Chris Blue, of the Chapel Hill Police Department.

Police say the vandals tend to strike overnight and often on the weekends. While the police department has increased its plain-clothes patrols, investigators say they are really depending on the public's help to arrest the person or people responsible for the crimes.

"It may be that the noise you heard at four in the morning was something," Blue said.

Blue suggests that residents park in well-lit locations off the street, and if possible, in a garage.

Aside from parking off the roads, he says some of residents' best tools are the ones they tend to overlook: instinct -- that feeling that something is out of the ordinary -- and a telephone.

"If people just keep their eyes open and take a little more precautions," said Chapel Hill resident Andrew Sloop, whose truck tire was slashed more than a week ago. "I guess I was a little naive to think nothing could happen."

Police also ask that anyone with information about the vandalism to contact the Chapel Hill Police Department at